new box, old problem...led woes

[pinkjimiphoton]

hmmmmm....

ok, i have a question. tried search, but got 64 pages of results that weren't really relevant.

i'm working on a circuit with a second 3pdt footswitch

one part of the switch is adding a second diode clipper just before the output cap.

part two is jumpering a small resistor to ground from e of q1, hoping to get a slight gain boost to counter the volume drop when the diode clipper is engaged.
(the diode clipper is in this case a second clipper, that comes right after the first one, which is always on...sounds great, but loses a little volume)

the third half ( ) of the switch has a tricolor led...red, green and blue. the annode is common to all three, so i cut off the green cathode as i didn't intend to use it.... so dirt is red, and "boost" (less clipping but about 4-6db louder) is blue.

i wanted to make sure that the bicolor one is on when the effect is in bypass (green led when effect is on) so you don't get any real surprises when you turn it on.. this way you can tell what's for rhythm (very distorted) and lead (still distorted, but much louder/cleaner; i play different from a lot of other guys, in that i tend to use more distortion on power chords and less on leads).

so originally i tried having the bicolor ground right to the vero board's ground rail...that way, it was always on, and would switch color.

but as soon as i hooked up the other led (on off) i lost the blue of the bi... now, when on, the green led comes on. step on the second switch, and it goes between red, with the other green one on faintly, or green...no blue.

now i am an idiot and a newb (you guys are gonna have to start yelling at me about the newb thing, it's been a few years now) and i like a fairly bright led... i like the coronas it makes my glaucoma see. 

i took a random resistor...think it was about 2.2k, lieing on my bench from + of the power jack and tied the anodes of the two led's together to this 2.2k.

i figured since the bicolor was always supposed to be on, grounding it to the - rail would be cool, and i could just ground the main led to the star ground on the input jack.

well.... like i said, didn't really work out.

i tried using the same ground for all the led's. that didn't really work out either....same symptom, but now with a nasty "pop" when the switch is engaged.

i'm figuring it's a decoupling issue;

should i use separate resistors of an equal value for all three led's?

should i add resistors at both ends...anode and cathode?

i realize i can go with a much bigger resistor(s) than what i am using.

kinda stumped, advice appreciated!!!

this is a further incarnation of my overdrive fuzz posted a couple days ago, and it sounds pretty good..

i can't post a schematic yet, cuz i don't think this particular malady exists yet.

thanks!!

[digi2t]

I`m consulting the Lewdvig build, since it`s the only place I`ve ever used a bi-color LED, and it`s common cathode. Each anode of the bi-color has it`s own resistor.

I generally ground the cathode, and put the resistor on the anode on all my builds.

[pinkjimiphoton]

thanks dino, i guess i wrote it backwards.. 

i figured it out, kinder sorter...

i kept the original led's 2.2k resistor, and took a 10 k and plopped it on the + rail of the vero, and took that back to the bicolor's common pin. i keep saying bicolor,
but it's really TRI color.

that took care of the pop on the red side, but the blue side was still popping, so i put a 10k resistor beween that and the switch,
no more pops.

i ditched the short-the-resistor thing, as the gain boost was pretty negligible.

what i ended up doing was taking the output from the wiper of the volume pot, and connecting it to pin one of a trimmer, and pin three to ground. then i soldered
the wiper to the connection of the switch so it's only connected when the "blue" function is on...and equalized down the output a bit from where it had been. now, it's gotta nice fuzz with a phat warm midrange, or hit a switch and get a nice "clean-ish" boost...not quite as dirty, and a lot louder. without the trimmer, it was freakin
LOUD...now it's a noticeable volume increase, but not a huge jump.

when i get a chance, i'll post a vero and try and make a schematic.

thanks for the help , brother!!

namaste